BARC India has launched an independent forensic audit following a report by Malayalam news channel Twentyfour that alleged a BARC employee was involved in manipulating television ratings. The council issued a formal statement addressing the development, stating:
“BARC India is aware of the report put out by the Malayalam news channel ‘Twenty-Four’ yesterday, claiming involvement of a BARC India employee in an alleged ratings manipulation case. In order to address the matter with urgency, transparency and due diligence, BARC India has immediately engaged a reputed independent agency to forthwith undertake a comprehensive forensic audit into the matter.
While the audit is underway, we would request all parties, including the media, to refrain from making any unverified or speculatory claims regarding the situation.
BARC India remains committed to the highest standards of integrity and accountability towards its stakeholders.”
Per media reports, Twentyfour has alleged that the employee, Premnath, received crores of rupees (reportedly routed through USDT cryptocurrency) to a Trust Wallet account and then dispersed the funds across multiple digital wallets. The payments were allegedly made to obtain early access to confidential BARC data and influence weekly TRP numbers for a Kerala-based news channel.
Kerala Police have reportedly begun a preliminary inquiry after a complaint reached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and BARC’s senior leadership. The report further claims that the employee also allegedly shared sensitive PIN-code-level BARC meter location details with the channel’s owner. Premnath most recently served as Vice-President at BARC India.
Per media reports, nearly Rs 100 crore may have been transferred over time as part of the alleged arrangement. The Twentyfour investigation cites WhatsApp chats, call logs and screenshots that reportedly show weekly rating figures being shared before BARC’s official releases. In at least one case, the pre-shared numbers allegedly matched the final BARC data exactly.
The report also questions the broadcaster’s explanation for a sudden jump in ratings. The channel claimed the increase came from landing-page placement on a small cable operator in North Kerala, though the operator reportedly has only around 20,000 subscribers in a state with an estimated 8.5 million cable TV homes. The broadcaster has also allegedly invested in overseas “phone-farming” setups in Malaysia and Thailand to inflate YouTube views.
Premnath joined BARC in 2015 after spending a decade at the Times Group. Several former Times Group employees later joined BARC, including Partho Dasgupta and Arnab Goswami, both previously arrested in the 2020 Mumbai TRP case but later given clean chits by the Enforcement Directorate. Mumbai Police withdrew its case last year.
BARC has emphasised that it is addressing the situation with urgency as the forensic audit proceeds.
